Primary menu

SMC Presents

S&M Comedy Presents is a monthly late-night series of creative live shows conceived by Jamie and Steve in order to challenge comedians and bring variety to the PHX Comedy Scene. Holding these performances at a small, inexpensive locally-owned theater enables the concepts to be fully appreciated by a diverse audience without the distracting drunkards at a bar show or the overwhelming cost of a night at a comedy club.

This Day in History: Every day, history is made- whether it’s the Rum Rebellion on January 26th, the birth of Nandor Fodor on May 13th, or the death of J.R.R. Tolkien on September 2nd, history happens every day. And every day, comedians are painstakingly combing the headlines for new joke fodder. With “This Day in History,” comedians are challenged to write entirely new material about the past events of the date of the performance and bring their totally fresh, unrehearsed ideas to the stage!

Dan Hull’s Digging for Gold: The Reverend Dan Hull’s wildly popular all-riffing, all-improvisation comedy extravaganza, “Digging for Gold” is an opportunity for comics to develop new material for the stage while on the stage. Instead of trying to force comedy out of premeditated scripts, the comedian, the producers, and the audience all work together to riff entirely new material on the fly.

S&M Comedy Podcast LIVE! The S&M Comedy Podcast has been a hub for all things PHX Comedy since its inception in February 2011. “Arizona’s Premier Pleasurably Painful Comedy Podcast” features informative interviews and thoughtful conversations with local and national comedians, performance artists, and musicians…unless they do it live. The Live S&M Comedy Podcast is a swirling vortex of chaos, culminating in seven comedians sharing the stage, conversing and joking with each other, all recorded before a live studio audience, just like those shitty 80’s sitcoms used to. But this shitty 80’s sitcom wants to murder Kirk Cameron.

Jokeless / Silence: Jokeless and Silence are Steve & Jamie’s storytelling tentacles unfurled. Giving comedians the opportunity to get real with audiences without the bounds of the setup and punchline expectations of the comedy stage. For a comedian to tell true stories from their real life requires the performer to fearlessly explore the depths of their darkest moments, skillfully craft a story, and steadfastly charge ahead onstage in the face of that most dreaded adversary- silence.

Poetry Slim: Leave your sensitive poetic side at home, because we’re mercilessly mocking the languid, melancholy lyricist in all of us tonight. Comics will read their original sonnets, haikus, and villanellas, as well as some musty old classics and found poems, fresh off the bathroom wall. As always, this will be a bring your own absynthe event.

Goodbye Cruel World: “Goodbye Cruel World” is an evening for audiences to enjoy a guilty laugh and an uncomfortable squirm or two, as comics get onstage to unabashedly share their own suicide notes and eulogies. Comics frequently like to delve into the dark abysses of the human psyche and hold up a mirror to society’s most dreaded taboos. With “Goodbye Cruel World,” S&M invites the most dreaded of those taboos to hold that mirror up to our comedians. Performers less willing to wander too far into their own black night can write a raunchy, revealing suicide note for a loathed celebrity or a final ‘fuck you’ eulogy for a nefarious dictator. We like to think of this show as an opportunity for comedians to truly let their darkness shine. Ah, suicide and comedians- together like chocolate and peanut butter.

The Storrs Objection: Local comedian Matt Storrs is known for bringing his law background to the stage, especially when fact-checking other comedians’ material after their sets. “The Storrs Objection” will now give Matt the opportunity to fact-check other comedians’ material DURING their sets. Along with The Torch Theatre’s Bill Binder, Matt Storrs will be rebutting and rebuking comedians in the middle of premise and punchline, throwing off timing and train of thought, and maybe starting a fight or two. “The Storrs Objection” is heckling with a wrecking ball.